Both statistics and forecasts are pointing to increased global use of scrap paper, according to speakers at the Fall Round-Table held by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) in Brussels in late October
Esa Hyvärinen, recycling director of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), hailed the “marvellous achievement” of Europe’s recovered paper sector last year in increasing the collection rate against a backdrop of falling paper and board consumption
According to his organization’s statistics, collection improved from 43.9 million metric tons in 2000 to 44.7 million metric tons last year, with the collection rate jumping from 52.3 percent to 55.4 percent from year to year
Meanwhile, paper and board consumption fell to 80.7 million metric tons last year after reaching 84 million metric tons in 2000. While utilization rates are “very high” in sectors such as packaging, according to Finland’s Hyvärinen, further opportunities to use recovered paper exist in the graphic papers and newsprint sectors.
Hyvärinen noted that “decided and planned” paper and board capacity increases in CEPI countries of 6.5 million metric tons would entail 4.8 million metric tons of growth in scrap paper utilization
Developments in the U.S. last year were similar to those in Europe, with overall paper consumption decreasing to 97.9 million metric tons while the collection rate improved to 48.3 percent, according to the American Forest & Paper Association (AFPA). The increase marks the first bump up since the mid-1990s, when the rate settled at around 44 percent. Hyvärinen noted that U.S. exports increased from 8.5 million metric tons in 1999 to 10.4 million metric tons last year, according to the AFPA.
As with other secondary commodities, China is becoming a “big factor” in the recovered paper market, according to Hyvärinen. The country’s paper production capacity was expected to grow by some 14 million metric tons by 2005, of which roughly half will be based on recovered paper. Imports of recovered paper increased from 2.5 million metric tons in 1999 to 6.4 million metric tons last year, and may total 15 million metric tons by 2006.